Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
OLD ROYAL NAVAL COLLEGE
OLD ROYAL NAVAL COLLEGE
Romney Rd Cutty Sark DLR 020 8269 4747,
www.ornc.org
.Daily 10am-5pm.Free.
MAP
It's entirely appropriate that the Old Royal Naval College is the one London building that
makes the most of its riverbank location. Initially intended as a royal palace, Wren's beauti-
fully symmetrical Baroque ensemble was eventually converted into a hospital for disabled
seamen in the eighteenth century. From 1873 until 1998 it was home to the Royal Naval
College, but now houses the University of Greenwich and the Trinity College of Music.
The two grandest rooms, situated underneath Wren's twin domes, are magnificently opu-
lent and well worth visiting. The
Chapel
's exquisite pastel-shaded plasterwork and spectac-
ular decorative ceiling detail were designed by James “Athenian” Stuart, after a fire in 1799
destroyed the original interior. The magnificent
Painted Hall
features trompe-l'oeil fluted
pilasters, and James Thornhill's gargantuan allegorical ceiling painting depicting William
and Mary handing down Peace and Liberty to Europe, with a vanquished Louis XIV clutch-
ing a broken sword below them.
